BURY New Road is the most congested road in the North West, a new report has found.

The road, which passes through Prestwich and Whitefield, also ranked as the 10th worst in the country in 2018, with motorists facing a delay of 34 hours added on to their travel time every year.

The data, published by leading international transport analytics firm INRIX, further revealed that commuters journeying on the road experienced an average daily delay of nine minutes.

Michael Powell, Liberal Democrat candidate in St Mary’s Ward which straddles the road, said: "It’s appalling that Prestwich has the most congested road in the North West and the 10th worst anywhere in the country. The study estimates that each year a Bury New Road driver will lose 34 hours of their life to the additional congestion - that's nearly a week at work."

He added: "Standing traffic, particularly large diesels like buses and lorries, is one of the worst causes of air pollution."

According to INRIX, Manchester is the fourth most congested city in the UK, up three places from 2017.

Commuters in the region lost 156 hours last year stuck in traffic ­— up two per cent on 2017 figures.

Driver's last mile of travel in the city-region took an average of six minutes at an average speed of only 10 mph.

The impacts of driving in such a congested area are calculated to cost each Manchester driver £1,157 a year.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Greater Manchester is a growing global city – which is great news – but just like other similar cities around the world, congestion is a real issue. 

“But unlike other cities we don’t have the powers and funding we need to tackle congestion. Major cities including London have a range of powers and funding over areas like roadworks, highways and rail - but Greater Manchester lags behind.  

“That is why I’ve called on Government to give us these powers now and let us get a grip of the congestion that plagues our city-region.  Congestion is hitting our economy, polluting our air and making people’s daily commute a misery.”

Of the UK cities analysed, only London, Birmingham and Glasgow were found to be more congested than Manchester.

London's A406 North Circular Road was the most congested in the country, with drivers experiences a total yearly delay of 61 hours and an average daily delay of 15 minutes.

Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at INRIX, said: “Congestion costs Brits billions of pounds each year. Unaddressed, it will continue to have serious consequences for national and local economies, businesses and citizens in the years to come.”

Manchester was also ranked as the 85th most congested of the 200 cities in 38 countries surveyed by INRIX.

But spare a thought for motorists in Moscow, Russia, the most congested in the world according to the report, who spent an estimated 210 hours in traffic last year.